


you can do this, you got this

by morningcoffees



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Anxious Amy Santiago, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Mild Self Harm, but really very mild, supportive jake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 14:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15932720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morningcoffees/pseuds/morningcoffees
Summary: Amy has her sergeant's exam coming up, and she's super nervous. Jake is incredibly supportive.An alternate plot to "Chasing Amy" (season 4, episode 18).





	you can do this, you got this

**Author's Note:**

> Domestic Jake and Amy and comforting/caring Jake and Amy are my favorites.

It’s the night before the sergeant’s exam and it’s safe to say that Amy is freaking out. She realizes somewhere subconsciously that she knows her stuff and that she has no reason to worry, but she worries nonetheless. This is life calendar worthy and for her, that’s a huge reason to worry. She’s slept about five hours total this whole week. It's not even that she’s been up all night studying, though. She is up late studying most nights, but she gets into bed with Jake around 12am consistently. On a normal night, he would go to bed around 11. Ever since Amy started studying for the sergeant’s exam though, he tried to convince her that he should stay up with her so he can actually guide her into bed at 12. She immediately shot that idea down and while he was originally skeptical, he soon came around to it. He does trust her and her persuasion skills are incredible, especially when she’s talking to him in her sexy-timez voice while not so subtly undoing all the buttons on his plaid shirt and tracing her fingers up and down his toned chest.

But Amy's real lack of sleep comes from just straight up nerves. She can’t sleep because she’s so scared. And bless Jake, her boyfriend she is convinced is actually sent straight from heaven. He’s the sweetest person she thinks she’s ever met. He is just so caring and caters to her every need. If she thinks that pierogis at 11 at night will help her study, he runs out to the nearest Polish restaurant and grabs some. He’s quick to pick up on her cues as well, quick to notice when she’s especially cranky and needs a quiet back rub while they watch tv or when she’s getting kind of teary with lack of sleep and stress and needs him to pull her into him and whisper cute little nothings into her ear. He uses those little whisper sessions a lot because they seem to be the most effective in calming her down.

Tonight, he kisses her even longer than usual before heading to bed, saying, “Please get some sleep tonight, ok? You’re gonna nail this test.” He falls asleep quickly, but is soon woken up by her angrily erasing her pencil marks and repeating to herself over and over again, “Why are you so dumb? Why are you so dumb?” It's that phrase in particular that has him leaping out of bed and rushing into the dining room where she's studying to take her into his arms. He walks her over to the couch where she collapses against him, tears welling up in her eyes. He sits her on his lap as she straddles his legs, resting her head against his shoulder. He rubs her back and shoulders and monologues, “It’s ok. It’s all ok. I got you. I got you. Ames, you’re the smartest damn person I know. You can do this. You got this. I believe in you so so so much. You’re ok. It’s ok. Shh shh shh shh shh.” 

He can feel her body and muscles begin to relax but she's still visibly upset so he continues whispering, “Woah, woah, woah. Ames, its ok. You’re ok. Babe, I love you so damn much. You’re the smartest person in the world and You got this. You’re gonna kill this test. You love tests. You’re ok. I got you. You’re incredible and I'm so lucky to be with you. I'm so lucky. I really am. You’re amazing. I love you. I love you so much.”

Amy's now full on crying, but it's out of complete happiness and love for the person holding onto her instead of out of anger and stress. “I love you so much, Jake. Thank you. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

Jake just smiles in response and leans in to kiss her before carrying her to their bed where she promptly falls asleep out of exhaustion. He's usually the little spoon (everyone loves being the little spoon, ok?) but he takes it upon himself to wrap himself around her, protecting her from all the stress and worry.

Hours later, Amy lays wide awake, unable to sleep. She knows she is prepared, but she's still scared out of her mind. She can't help thinking about all the impossible what if’s. What if she failed? What if she wasn’t cut out to be a sergeant? Jake’s arm, which is still wrapped around her, tightens around her as if he knows subconsciously that she is spiraling. This little movement soothes her and her breathing begins to return to normal. She rolls over so she's facing him before planting a little kiss on his forehead and then tucking her head under his chin. Just hearing him breathing softly calms her down and she falls back to sleep quickly.

When Amy's alarm goes off that morning, she springs out of bed, eager to just get the day over with. She quickly gets ready for work with Jake slowly tagging along behind her. Her exam is in the afternoon, so she has the entire morning to spiral and think about the what if’s and worry. Realizing this, Jake speeds up his morning routine so they won’t be late for work which would irritate her even further. He drives to work, knowing that she’s too jumpy and shaky to drive. 

Just as everyone has a scale for Amy's panic, Jake has a scale for Amy's anxiety. She has already surpassed anxiety level 1 (heavy breathing/trembling hands/sleeplessness) and anxiety level 2 (degrading herself) but only two hours into work, Jake realizes that Amy is approaching anxiety level 3: digging her nails into her palms. She gets up to go to the bathroom and on her way past Jake, he quickly squeezes her hand. Jake immediately notices the indentations on her palm but decides not to mention it until she gets back. When she does, he takes her into the hallway and flips her hand over to find dozens of little red semicircles decorating her palm from where he nails had dug into her skin. “Ames, babe, come on,” Jake looks her with worry.

“I know, I know,” Amy looked down at feet in shame. “I couldn’t help it though! It’s my coping mechanism. It sort of helps me concentrate on the pain and not my worries.”

Jake begins to gently rub his fingers over her palms, trying to soothe her skin and get rid of the marks. “Ames, do you know how capable you are? and how much I believe in you? You got this exam. You could practically pass it in your sleep at this rate. This is kind of scary. You can’t harm yourself, even if it makes you concentrate more. I love you too much to let you do this to yourself.” He continues to run his fingers in calming circles around her palms until he’s sure that the indentations are becoming less red.

Amy looks at him, takes a deep breath, and says, “Ok. I’m ready. I can do this.”

“There it is,” Jake smiles as he wraps her up in a big hug before giving her a quick kiss. “Now go take that test and kill it. I believe in you.”

2 hours later, Amy comes rushing out of the room with a giant smile on her face. She runs into Jake’s waiting arms and he spins her around. “See, I told you that you could do it!” he exclaims. He’s so happy for her. As an afterthought, he adds, "Let me see your hands."

She holds them out for him to examine, and he realizes that the marks have faded out completely and haven't been replaced by any new ones. He breathes a sigh of relief as his fingers brush over her hands. “Ok, yeah it was a lot easier than I expected,” she admits. “I couldn’t have done it without you though. I love you so much.”

“I love you so much too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought :)


End file.
